Pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacists, and others have long sought to provide safety containers for contents such as drugs and other potentially dangerous contents. The object of their search has been to provide a container that can be opened readily by an adult but not by a child.
One safety container that has existed for some time is the “push-and-twist” container. The push-and-twist container requires the person opening the container to push down forcefully on the cap of the container and simultaneously twist the cap to unscrew it and move it to a position where it can be lifted off of the container.
One problem with the push-and-twist type of container is that the twist cap entirely separates from the container when the container is opened. The cap can be lost, and in any event, the separate cap requires effort to locate and place the cap back onto the container body in order to close the container. In addition, when the user has multiple such containers open, as is often the case for elderly persons who often must take more than one type of drug at a time, the user can mix-up the lids and place the wrong cap on the wrong container or, because of the effort required to keep track of the disparate caps and replace them on the correct container, simply leave the caps off of their containers. These types of mix-ups or a failure to close the containers defeats the very purpose of putting a safety cap or lid on the container at all.
Another problem with the push-and-twist container is that it requires only one pushing and twisting motion in order to open the container. A child need only figure out that one push-and-twist motion in order open the container.
Yet another problem with the push-and-twist container is that it has only one mode of closing and opening. Many people, however, rarely if ever have children in their homes. The conventional push-and-twist caps are also inconvenient because they require the use of two hands to open. The push-and-twist mechanism cannot be operated easily without the use of both hands, in the absence of a tool. Persons who have difficulties using one of their hands due to a medical issue (e.g., neurological damage, broken bone(s), amputation, etc.) or who are simply weak or suffer from coordination difficulties may find it difficult and perhaps even impossible to perform the push-and-twist motion. Therefore, a safety container that is both suitable for pharmaceutical packaging and operable with one hand is desirable.
Even in the case of a healthy adult, the user may not want, or have a need to utilize any more than minimal safety features on a particular safety container. For these and other reasons, these types of users may have no need, desire, or ability to themselves repeatedly engage in the substantial push-and-twist effort required to utilize the push-and-twist container. For these types of users, the push-and-twist and similar types of safety containers do not provide an adequate solution to the problem of providing a container that will be relatively securely closed when not in use, depending on the needs of the user.
One solution to these types of problems is the hinge-lid safety container, such as that shown is U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,146, entitled “Safety Containers” (“the '146 patent”). Because the hinged lid is secured to the container by the hinge, the cap is not lost, misplaced, or difficult to position adjacent the opening of the container when closing the container.
With the device shown in the '146 patent the lid is opened by inserting a sufficiently long fingernail into a relatively small and hidden slot in a locking pin slidably mounted in the lid, and then pulling, with the finger nail, the pin out of its force-fit engagement with the upper lip of the container in order move the pin away from the force-fit engagement and the lid to rotate into the open position. The '146 device is often easier for many seniors and others to use than the twist-and-pull container because, once the pin is pulled out and the cap is opened, the cap may be opened and relatively securely closed without resetting the pin.
Conventional safety containers are inconvenient and can be difficult to open even for adults. Thus, there is a need for improved safety containers that can be easily and reliably opened, while maintaining child-proof characteristics.